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Omar and his Howlers have steadily won over fans and garnered awards from around the globe. In the Netherlands they were recipients of the coveted Edison Award, that country's equivalent to the Grammy, and back at home the Austin Chronicle's 1987 Readers Poll awarded the band Best Song, Best Single and Best Video. Years earlier Omar was inducted into the paper's Texas Hall of Fame, alongside such legends as Buddy Holly, T-Bone Walker and Willie Nelson.

The McComb, Mississippi native (hometown to another rock luminary, Bo Diddley) has always aimed for what he calls the "monkey nerve," which he consistently taps on Monkey Land. The album marks a return to a leaner, rawer sound, produced by the singer/songwriter/guitarist himself. "All of the basic tracks were done live: there were very few overdubs. It was my first time to really get to experiment with a lot of things that I thought would fit me. I haven't had the opportunity to be involved in the mixing process before, but I was there every minute of it this time. On previous albums, we'd record the music, and then I'd be out touring, and we'd have to depend on somebody else's idea of the mix. I was too busy making a living."